An Orrington man accused of killing his infant daughter will not have his bail lowered after asking a judge to do so.
Shawn Samuels, 25, is charged with depraved indifference murder in the Jan. 18 death of 12-week-old Lyla Samuels. His bail was set at $250,000 in January.
Samuels appeared in-person Monday to ask Penobscot County Judge Ann Murry to reduce his bail. The request was to amend bail to $15,000, which Samuels would be able to post with family support, defense attorney Caitlyn Smith said.
Part of the reason Smith asked for the bail reduction was the ongoing potential of delays in discovery, which is information the state must provide the defense.
Murray denied Samuels’ request for a lower bail. She ruled without prejudice, which means Samuels can raise the issue again if there are delays, Murray said.
The case against Samuels is mostly circumstantial evidence, Smith said. She added there is no confession from Samuels and there is no direct evidence he caused Lyla’s injuries.
“This is a battle of experts,” Smith said.
Assistant Attorney General Bud Ellis disagreed, saying there was extreme trauma and abuse in Lyla’s death.
“There is ample evidence that this child suffered horrific trauma and abuse,” Ellis said.
On June 8, the defense team told the Office of the Maine Attorney General that it needed three sets of evidence for its case that still had not been provided, Smith said. Samuel’s defense team had not received the autopsy report from the attorney general’s office as of July 30, but it was sent after Smith said she filed a motion to amend Samuels’ bail.
Those deadlines are important because the documents are necessary for Smith to prepare for the trial and retain experts, she said.
The state has provided the documents it has available, Ellis said. He said he would “follow through promptly” on the outstanding records request but warned that not all the documents may be available.
“We are going to do whatever we need to do in order to get information needed to prove Shawn Samuels didn’t do a thing,” Smith said.
A medical expert for the defense may testify that it would be malpractice for a doctor to say that Lyla’s injuries were caused by Samuels, Smith said. That expert needs more documents about the infant’s death before being able to provide more details.
Samuels was previously indicted on 12 charges from 2023 to 2025, including counts of domestic violence aggravated assault, domestic violence assault and criminal restraint.
He was out of jail on bail conditions when Lyla died in the hospital. Her death was ruled a homicide. She had four broken ribs, brain bleeding and retinal hemorrhages, according to her autopsy. The brain bleeding would not have been found in a healthy child, a probable cause affidavit said.
Samuels is being held at the Penobscot County Jail.